Dropshipping with WordPress, better than Shopify?

Over the past few years, between 22-33% of all internet retailers utilize dropshipping as their primary method of order fulfillment. Big and small companies alike have adopted this technique and have built their entire business around this strategy. Companies like Zappos, Amazons, and Sears, either use or have used dropshipping in their business.

What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a method when an eCommerce store doesn’t stock a product but instead fulfills a customer’s order by purchasing the product from another vendor and then ships the product directly to the customer. Because there is almost no overhead costs or inventory, it has become a popular option for people to make money online.

WordPress vs Shopify: Pricing

To create an eCommerce store with WordPress, you most likely will want to use WooCoomerce, which is a free opensource plugin. It is very powerful and popular - powering about 20% of all eCommerce sites on the web. While WooCommerce is a free plugin, you will need to purchase a hosting packing to power your WordPress site. This can cost you as little as a couple of dollars a month for a shared hosting plan, to $30 a month for a managed Wordpress hosting plan. It depends on how much traffic and resources you need for your website.

Shopify’s most basic plan costs $29 per month. When you purchase a more expensive plan, the credit and transaction fees will decrease. Shopify does make it simple to buy a package quickly, with all the information you need to start your dropshipping store.

Deciding if WordPress or Shopify is right for you also depends on how many dropshipping websites you would like to run. Many people run five or more dropshipping sites at once, and the costs can quickly add up. However, if you have just the one store, and want something simple to get you started, Shopify might be the better option.

WordPress vs Shopify: Templates

How pretty your site is will have a big effect on the success of your store.

Luckily, Shopify offers 70 templates - 10 of which are free. All of the templates come with a couple of variants, so you can customize the look of your site a bit more. The templates are all beautifully designed, look professional, and are mobile-friendly.

However, WordPress is able to offer a much larger selection. Because it is opensource software, there seems to be a limitless amount of templates that fit your needs. Many of the templates are free, but you can choose to buy one. One thing to watch out for is to select a “safe” template from a reputable source. Because WordPress is opensource, there are some themes and templates out there that contain malicious code that might infiltrate your computer and site. As long as you are careful, you shouldn’t have a problem.

WordPress vs Shopify: Set Up Time

Shopify shines in this category. To get started, all you need to do is sign up for a plan, and it should only take you an hour or less to set up your dropshipping business. WordPress might take less than an hour as well, but it depends on your technical expertise. You might also get overwhelmed by the number of options and customization that is at your fingertips with Wordpress.

However, if you do want to create multiple stores, Wordpress is extremely easy. You can install a plugin that can replicate your site. With Shopify, you will have to spend the time creating each site.

WordPress vs Shopify: Features

Shopify has tons of options through their App marketplace. There, you can purchase plugins to help improve your Shopify store and customize it how you want it. In the marketplace, there are more than 1000 you can choose from, but many of these are paid, with a free trial.

However, on WordPress, there are more than 75,000 extensions and plugins to select. What sets WordPress and WooCommerce apart is that many of these options are free, and nearly anything you could want is available. You can download a plugin to help you with SEO, speed up your website, or anything else you might need.

One WordPress plugin and extension that can help make your dropshipping business a success is Ali2Woo. It allows you to integrate your WooCommerce store on WordPress directly with AliExpress. Ali2Woo makes it easy to import products and fulfill products with easy through AliExpress.

While it does have a fee attached to it, it is well worth it. Packages start at a $40 one-time fee, which allows you to showcase 1,000 products on your site, with an unlimited amount of orders per month. Or, you can opt for a $25 or $70 a month, which both allow you to showcase a great variety of products.

Some of Ali2Woo’s top features include:

Seamlessly import from AliExpress - With this plugin, you can add products from AliExpress on to your eCommerce site. You can choose to use either the plugin or its Chrome extension.

Product review - Import reviews easily from AliExpress to help sway customers to purchase from you

Fulfill & track orders - Keep track of everything your customers have ordered and always know where the items are with this plugin.

Price & Inventory Automation - Now, you can change the price of products in your store quickly. It will also send you a notification if a product goes out of stock, or the price changes.

Multiple languages and currency options - Most likely, you will try to sell on a global scale, and having the translate and multi-currency option will be invaluable to you,

AliExpress affiliate program - This is one of the best features of Ali2Woo. It helps you to earn additional income through the AliExpress affiliate program. You can use the plugin as an affiliate took or to dropship products.

Which one is right for me?

Both WordPress and Shopify are strong options for dropshipping products. Shopify has 24/7 customer support available via phone, or by chat, which can help you solve any problems quickly. WordPress has tons of forums, and a large support system to assist you.

Shopify makes it easy to start a store, but WordPress and WooCommerce are able to provide better features thanks to free plugins and themes.